


Zootopia 1.3: Conspiracy theory

by Doug48



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Drama, F/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:44:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doug48/pseuds/Doug48
Summary: So, what if Nick and Judy didn't meet until later, after they each met someone else, and after each cared about that other person? Also, what if Bellweather was part of some larger conspiracy and someone figured it out, years later, and then they tried to tell everyone what really happened? Those are the premises with which I'm working.





	1. Tell us about it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter, so I don't really need a summary. Let's assume the movie came out in 2008 and not 2016....

"As this is the 10th anniversary of the infamous Nighthowler Incident and new documents have come to light as a result of a recent “Sunshine” request, we thought we would invite author Mr. Smith to our studios to discuss his new book “What They Won’t Tell You.” As you can see, we have blacked out his face and disguised his voice at his request."

"Mr. Smith. Welcome."

"Glad to be here." 

"So, can you tell us about the book, or would you have to shoot us if you did?"

"Ha, ha, very funny. Never heard that one before… No, I can tell you anything you want to know. That’s sort of the point. I mean, would I write a book if I was worried about mammals finding out what was in it?"

"No, but you have been a bit reticent about revealing your identity and home address-"

"That’s true, but I don’t think that information is relevant and I have valid concerns about the government finding out where I live. The facts in the book, those are relevant; but my name and identity? Those aren't relevant."

"Very well. What is this new information that you uncovered?"

"It has to do with exactly who was involved and when they were involved, and that’s something you weren’t told initially. Everyone thought it was just Nick and Judy, a con-mammal and a rookie cop, who stumbled onto this conspiracy more or less by accident and then cracked the case by hard work, ingenuity, and a whole lot of luck. However, I have determined that several government agencies, both at the City and the Federal level, were up to their necks in this."

"You don't mean the ZPD was involved from the beginning?"

"That's exactly what I mean. How else could the kidnapping of over a dozen mammals go undiscovered over the course of two weeks? Remember these mammals went savage and then they were caught and then they were quarantined on government property at the old asylum. Why would the chief of police try to fire the one cop that volunteered to search for these mammals, and what sort of secret orders were the other cops given? Were they told to search but not find anything and why were the cases only handed out after all these mammals had been missing for two weeks? How is it that two officials from the mayor's office are involved, one with kidnapping mammals after the other darted the same mammals, and yet we're supposed to believe they were working against each other because of something the rabbit overheard conveniently? And how did Nick and Judy survive crashing that exploding train car, anyway? I can't answer all of these questions, but I can tell you what I know."

"Well, let's get started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to have unique points of view in these stories. This time, it's a conspiracy buff, so of course he's going to assume certain things, and that will lead to him assuming other things to make those initial assumptions play out better.
> 
> Also, I like to just have dialogue and not much scenery in these first chapters. Then, I start with more details in Chapter 2. Sort of like Wizard of Oz that started in black and white and then went to color..... Anyway, it's that kind of idea.


	2. Two Todds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Finn are doing their ice cream thing

“Well, that was fun,” the taller fox said to the smaller one walking beside him. 

There was no answer, so the taller fox continued, “I mean, it would have been more fun if we had been able to stay the whole time-”

“Nick, if you’re upset, please just come out and say it. Stop this beating around the bush thing,” the shorter fox, Finn, replied. Finn was still wearing his elephant costume and Nick had his usual sloppy shirt, tie, and slacks. 

“Upset? Why would I be upset?”

“Because we got kicked out. Because there were available vixens there, some without todds at home. Some with todds, but were available anyway if I read the signs right.”

“Yeah, the scents are kind of a giveaway, aren’t they? And the collars, for that matter.” 

Canines can smell if another canine is interested in sex, but they can't always smell if someone already has a partner, so traditional females in Zootopia have adapted to this by wearing either a jewel studded, or at least shiny, collar to signify that they’re taken, or wearing a simple cravat, depending on their relationship status. Traditional male canines either wear a metal studded, but not shiny, collar, or they use a necktie, like the one Nick was wearing. No one knows exactly where or when the collar tradition had started, but it was unique to canines and some said it started when old pictures were discovered. No one ever saw a feline with this sort of collar because everyone knew that suggesting such a thing to any feline was an excellent way to get scratched up, and there might be old pictures of that as well. 

“Well, now what?” Nick asked. 

“Now? I guess we find something to do. I’ve still got my elephant costume, so how about we try and con some mammals into buying us a jumbo pop?”

“Oh, this again? I’m your dad and you’re my son and I forgot my wallet? I guess there are still a few places we haven’t tried that yet…”

“How about that one? ‘Two Scoops, One Trunk’?”

The two foxes stop near the ice cream shop and look it over. There’s an alley on one side and a planter out front to conceal Finnic from the street if necessary. The alley is good for deliveries and could double for a good old ‘you tried to run over my child’ con. 

“Looks good to me,” Finn says. 

Nick shakes his head in negation. “No. See that cop across the street? She might get involved.”

Finn looks across the street, and then turns back to Nick. “A bunny meter maid? This has you worried?” Finn puts his hands on his hips and stares up at his partner. His ears are slightly back and his scent is annoyance, but not anger or frustration.

“I’m not worried about the cop. I’m worried about complications we don’t need. This cop is brand-new, we saw that on the news. She’s the first rabbit cop, so I’m not sure which way she’ll hop when she sees and hears our song and dance, or only gets the end of it if one of the elephants calls her. If she doesn’t believe us, and she probably won’t, I don’t want a warrant issued for our arrest. How many bunnies have you met that would believe we’re the wronged parties here?”

“Not many, and we aren’t,” Finn’s arms are back down at his sides, and his scent is coming back to normal. 

“Come on. Let’s go to the next one,” Nick says, and they start walking again, passing the alley on their right.

“So, how are things with your vixen?”

“You know perfectly well. You see me wearing an engagement collar?” The smaller fox asks.

“No, but I thought you might have it on under the costume, or you might be keeping your options open. You know I don't like to pry.”

“Very funny. You’ve got that tie, so other canines aren’t sure about your relationship status. It’s around your neck so it's a collar, but it’s more than just a collar, so you could be either single and looking or married with a job that requires a tie and not looking, or simply non-traditional. Heck, it’s ambiguous enough that you might even be a widower who just happens to have the kind of desk job that most canines don’t.” 

“Yeah, well, it does keep my options open, like you say, and I am still looking,” Nick replied and then pretended to think about it. "Nah, not a widower. It's not a black tie."

“Gods, you and your jokes!" Finn says, and shuddered dramatically. "The last vixen, what was her name again? That didn’t go so well….”

The two foxes continue to walk down the street, passing ‘Two Scoops’ without entering and so they don't meet rabbit officer Judy Hopps today.


	3. Three Foxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Finn didn't meet a cop, but they met someone else

“Come on, we don’t have all day,” Finn says as Nick climbs up a convenient down spot with the large ice cream treat secured on his back. As usual, it’s red because blue ice cream tends to stain wood the same color, and who ever heard of natural blue wood?

Nick reaches the roof and positions his former burden so it’ll melt and run off down the tiles, into the gutter, through the downspout, and then into the jars under the end of this downspout. They’ve done this before, many times, and both know they need to complete the entire operation by 5 PM so they can catch the mammals getting off work. Preferably lemmings at a bank, both because they have money and because Nick need only get one to buy, and the others will simply follow.

The operation is going well until Nick, from his rooftop vantage point, notices something. There’s an artic fox vixen staring at them from across the street. Nick notices that she is wearing somewhat tight fitting long pants, blouse, and a cravat around her neck. 'Might be worth my time,' he thinks. 

Overall, she’s dressed very conservatively, and seems to be about Nick’s own age, which he would describe as "about thirty". He nods to her when he sees she’s seen him watching, and then she starts crossing the street.

“Damn it,” he mutters. "Not now."

Finn looks up just then, and Nick makes a kind of head motion toward the approaching vixen so Finn won’t be too surprised when he sees her. 

The ice cream is still melting, so they can’t leave yet. Finn has three jars, and only one has melted ice cream in it so far and it’s not full. Nick has to stay on the roof until the melt is complete and at least two jars are full and / or the ice cream is fully melted. 

The vixen has crossed the street by now. She stops near Finn, puts her paws on her hips, thrusts one hip to the side, and makes her ears go partway back; her posture radiating annoyance. Nick can’t scent her from the roof. Finn is still in his elephant costume because their next stop is cold Tundratown, so this might be awkward.

“What are you doing?” she asks, standing near Finn, but looking up at Nick. Finn has filled the first bottle and replaced it with another jar under the spout, and he's taking the full glass bottle of red ice cream melt into the van. The vixen had glanced into the van, Nick saw, so he expects she knows perfectly well what’s going on. 

“Making pawsicles. Want to help, pretty one?” Nick replies. Finn says nothing, concentrating on his part of the job. 

“No, I do not. And you shouldn’t be doing it either. This is hardly a sanitary way to make what I can only assume will eventually be smaller ice cream treats for sale.”

‘Yep, she knows what the large cooler and stacks of smaller wooden sticks are for in the van,’ Nick thinks. “So? Who are you, anyway? I’m Nick Wilde.” He does not introduce Finn just in case things go bad and they have to run away. 

“Skye Renard,” the vixen replies. Her paws are still on her hips, but her ears are back up. 

Nick grins until she continues, “Zoo Food and Drug Administration inspector. This was supposed to be my day off.” 

“Nice day for it,” Nick says, trying to look calm and still trying to run out the clock so they can get in the van and escape. “A day off that is.” The ice cream is mostly melted by now, but there is still one more glass jar to fill. 

“Did you hear me? You can’t be doing this.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nick says. “Let’s see some ID.”

The vixen just looks at him a moment, drops her hands to her sides, looks away, and then walks around a few steps, apparently uncertain. 

‘Probably doesn’t have it, this being a day off,’ Nick thinks, smirking. The vixen is looking across the street, probably at nothing, apparently thinking about what to do next. Nick drops the large wood handle from the now melted jumbo pop so it does not land on either Finn or Skye, and then slides down the downspout, planning to ‘stick’ the landing because Nick never loses an opportunity to show off for a cute female fox. 

However, sticking the landing is harder than expected and he stumbles when he lands because Skye is in front of him holding her identification near his muzzle and grinning in the approved way, not showing teeth. The identification looks exactly like the ones he studied when he thought about impersonating someone from Zoo FDA. This close, Nick can see and smell her confidence, and he knows she can smell his uncertainty. 

She blocks Finn’s loading of the final item, the large stick, into the van. Finn looks a question at Nick, who slumps his shoulders. 

“So? You going to write us up?”

“I doubt you gave me your real name, and you will probably claim you don’t have ID on you. Most of the time, I just use the street address of the building, but the van can just drive away.”

“Yeah,” Nick says, some confidence returning. ‘That’s the plan.’

“Still, I do have your van’s license number and it is being used in the operation. I can write up a report at my office downtown this afternoon and have the ZPD confiscate the van, probably tomorrow or the next day,” she says. She isn’t bothering to watch Finn getting angry at the possibility of losing his van.

“Or?” Nick asks. He’s heard city workers give speeches like this before, so he knows what’s coming next.

*********************

Ten minutes later, Nick and Finn are on their way to Tundratown, having loaded the big wooden stick and learned a valuable lesson about the price of getting caught. 

“Stupid bitch,” Finn says. 

“Technically, yes, she’s a bitch, or more properly, a vixen, but not stupid. She’s smarter than us, anyway,” Nick replies. “I think she scammed us. I’m not sure, but I’ve never heard of a fox working for the FDA, and I’m pretty sure I would have. Also, she had the ID, but not the other cards that government workers tend to have, like building access cards.”

“She could be new,” Finn replies. 

“Yeah. And the lack of key card and the working on her day off thing would fit that.”

The rest of the drive to Tundratown is made in silence. When they get there, they continue to work on the pawpsickles project because the vixen didn’t insist that they pour the juice down the drain, possibly because that would also have been a violation of something or other. Nick makes the molds in the snow and places the smaller sticks; and then Finn pours the ice cream and then they collect and store the frozen red pops in the cooler that they then put back in the van with the now empty glass jars. 

They are on their way to back downtown when Nick, who had been staring out the window, suddenly points and says, “Stop the van. Park over there.” He had pointed at two different locations, but Finn heads for the second. 

“What’s up with you?” the shorter fox asks, annoyed again. The maneuvers weren’t energetic enough to damage their product, but the clock is ticking and they could easily miss their 5 o’clock deadline. 

“Guess you didn’t see,” Nick says, smirking again in his usual manner. “Give me a few minutes and then follow me in. Let me do the talking. Oh, and lose the elephant costume.”

“’K” the shorter fox replies. He's confused, but glad his friend seems to be cheering up. ‘Probably saw something we can use.’

Finn watches Nick jump out of the van and head purposely across the street. Finn removes his costume and tosses it into the back of the van. He wears normal street clothes under it, of course. He waits a few minutes and then follows. The red fox had gone into a fast food restaurant, a franchise member of some sort of underground sand which chain. The finnic fox smiles when he sees the reason Nick is here. 

Nick is standing very casually behind a white furred, and very familiar, vixen. An artic vixen, in fact, and the same one they’d seen before. Finnic could tell by the way his friend stood that he’d been doing a little pickpocketing for fun and possibly profit. The female fox either hadn’t noticed him yet due to the presence of several other mammals, including a couple of other foxes, or her focus on the angry proprietor of this fine establishment. On the other paw, she might have scented him and simply chosen to ignore him. She was, apparently, just finishing a very familiar speech. “As I said, this is my day off, so I don’t really want to have to go in to my office today and report your violations.”

“Your day off, eh?” Nick asked, grinning without showing teeth. Skye turns quickly and Finn also moves to make sure she sees him as well. 

“Sir, this is an official matter, so I’m going to have to ask you to not interfere,” she replies. 

“Sure, officer, whatever,” Nick replies, grinning like the kit with a secret that he is. 

Her eyes narrow and her tail stiffens briefly, but then she turns back to the sand which mammal. “I’m just going to give you a verbal warning today. I, or one of my coworkers, will be back. Therefore, if I was you, I’d make some corrections just as soon as I could.”

The pacaderm owner grunts in reply and stalks back into his office. It's clear that his employees will be getting an earful as soon as the current crowd of customers thins out. 

For her part, Skye turns back toward Finn and Nick. She raises an eyebrow, and Nick motions toward a booth that, while not exactly private, is at least out of direct sight line of the employees. 

The foxes seat themselves. Finn on the inside by the window, and Nick next to him on the outside. Skye sits across from them, after Finn sat, but before Nick. Nick had considered crowding into her side of the booth, but decided not to. He is angry, but he had no plans on making this interview too hostile. 

“Funny who you run into at places like this,” Nick says, addressing Finn. 

“Yeah. Funny,” the smaller fox replies, glaring at Skye.

“So you want to talk? What are you thinking, threaten to tell my boss? Maybe record this conversation with a recorder pen or something like that?”

“Nah, I’ve just been having another look at your Zoo FDA identification, and it got me thinking about something else.”

The white fox’s eyes get bigger, and she makes a less than casual grab toward the pocket where she put her ID. It isn’t there, and she remembers that Nick had seen her put it away and had seemed to be interested. “Pick pocketing is a crime, you know that?”

Nick ignores her and hands the ID to Finn, who examines it carefully. “Very impressive,” he says. “Where’s the building key card?” Finn had not seen the ID previously because he had been moving the merchandise, so Nick had handled the verification side of the encounter and, obviously, he had screwed up. 

Skye doesn’t react, so Nick says, “I wondered that too, but you never said you couldn’t enter your building today. You just said you didn’t want to, and so I didn’t think much about it.” His ears are up and he is grinning again, watching Skye as she starts to say something hasty and then pauses. 

The white fox puts her paw on the table. “My ID, please?” Her eyes are on Nick, but the paw is closer to Finn.

“Oh, where are my manners? Here you go,” Nick says, and puts an ID with her picture on it in her paw. “Zootopia, where anyone can be anything. Or in your case, several different things at the same time. Pretty sure that’s illegal.”

Finn still has the FDA card, and now the little fox laughs. “She hustled us! She hustled us good! Now, what are we going to do about it?”

Now it was Skye’s shoulders that slumped and her scent became less confident. “You son of a bitch. How did you know?” 

“Lucky guess, or anyway, lucky eyes. Saw you come in here, and figured you were still out hunting. I knew for certain when I got my paws on these,” Nick said, holding up her wallet, and the other ID’s, including one for the Department of Environment and another for Department of Health. “That’s at least four, counting the FDA that Finn has and that one you have now.”

“I’ve got your wallet already, but there isn’t much money in it. Empty your pockets on the table,” Nick says, leaning toward her. 

She pauses, thinking again, and then clearly decides not to fight them. She figures she can take Nick, but she could smell how eager Finn was, and that might mean he had an ace, or a loaded weapon, pointed at her under the table. Or it could simply mean he enjoyed fighting. She did not, so she emptied her pockets on the table as Finn handed the FDA card back to Nick. 

Nick and Finn count the money that appeared, and then Finn says, “Where’s the rest of it?”

“That’s all there is,” she replies. 

“Nope. I don’t see all the money you got from us. I know what bills you took and they’re not all here. This is a trick we’ve seen before, which involves showing only just enough.”

Her eyes narrow, and she reaches down toward one leg. 

“Carefully,” Finn says, further confirming her theory that he has a weapon. 

Skye puts her paws back on the table with more money, and then reaches down to the other leg when Nick doesn’t bother to look at what she has on the table. 

“Thanks,” Nick says, as Skye crosses her arms on her chest. ‘She almost certainly has more money,’ he thinks. ‘But maybe I can make this work out for everyone involved.’

“OK, now Finn and I will just take our money back from this morning, all of it, and we’ll take half of the money you’ve got on the table. Tidy profit, eh, Finn?”

“You got it, boss,” the smaller fox says, cheerfully. 

Skye shoves the rest of the money on the table back into her pockets, and then starts to stand up. Ears back and scent angry. 

“Wait,” Nick says. He still has money in his paws, and hands some to Finn, but then hands some back to Skye. 

She takes it, surprised.

“I was thinking we might work together, now that we all know where we stand. Or sit, in this case,” he says. 

The vixen looks at Nick with much more surprise than Finn is showing. Finn then starts looking thoughtful. Skye takes a breath, and takes note of Nick’s confidence and Finn’s grudging acceptance. She knows who would be in charge of their little pack if she joins, but she finds that she can live with it. She’d had worse bosses, after all, and this one is kind of handsome in a way. For a red fox. She starts to sit back down, but Nick gets up and motions to Finn, and then Skye, to follow. 

“We’ve still got some sales to make,” he says, leading the way back to the van.


	4. One Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rookie cop Judy Hopps is writing traffic tickets when she sees something suspicious and decides to check it out.

“And 201,” Judy says, slightly embarrassed because she had to put a ticket on her trike. It’s noon and she’s been doing this for the last three hours, so it’s time for a break.

She considers getting an ice cream at the place across the street, but decides against that. It's an elephant place, so the ice cream would be too big for her, and not good for lunch anyway. 

Looking to her left, she finds another place down the block, and heads in that direction. She sees few other customers, but one of them is a well dressed rabbit. ‘No, he’s a hare,’ Judy reminds herself, ‘and a handsome one at that.’

This is Officer Judy Hopps’ first day on the job. Chief Bogo, not impressed by her academy scores, told her to write a hundred traffic tickets today and she wrote 200 before lunch. 

Judy gets a salad and sits by the window. She passes the hare, who looks up and nods, but then goes back to the paper he’s reading. ‘Not interested, unfortunately.’ She notices him leave about ten minutes later and then stand around outside. It’s clear that he’s waiting for someone, and Judy briefly wonders if it’s a doe or another buck before going back to her salad.

She finishes her meal, and when she looks back up, doesn’t see the hare. ‘Car must have picked him up.’ She leaves the shop and stands a moment on the sidewalk where the hare had been, and mentally prepares herself for an afternoon of more ticket writing. 

Across the street, near an apparently abandoned store, two foxes are taking an unusual interest in their surroundings. Each one is watching a separate arc, as if concerned about someone, possibly the police, catching them doing something illegal. One goes into the store, and then the other. Judy finds this suspicious and decides to investigate. 

She crosses the street at the light down the block and then comes back up the block on the sidewalk. She stops before moving in front of the relevant window, and listens. 

Hearing nothing, she moves on up the street, past the windows and looks inside. There is no one visible. Puzzled, she continues up the street, and turns left at the next road, and then comes to an alley on her left. She moves down the alley until she gets near the back of the abandoned store and crouches behind a dumpster. 

“- have the guns with me, but they’re nearby. Now, I would like to see the money.” 

Judy can’t see them, but she can hear what sounds like two foxes, maybe the same ones from earlier, and some sort of smaller prey mammal not far ahead of her. She can tell two of them are canines by the way their foot pads scratch the pavement when they move, but can’t tell much about the other one because his feet aren’t making any apparent noise. He might not be moving, or might be moving very quietly. 

"Carrot sticks! It’s some sort of illegal transaction going on right in front!” Judy thinks, not realizing that she’s sub-vocalizing. “Of course, it could just be them talking about trading guns for celery, but that’s very unlikely.” She nearly laughs, but muffles the reaction just in time.

Judy continues to listen, glad she’s down wind of the meeting and in a smelly alley. Those two pred vulpines would have smelled her for sure otherwise. 

“Here it is,” one of the foxes says. Judy can hear a difference in the way they talk because their mouths are full of long incisor teeth, unlike the shorter molars that prey use.

“That’s not-“ the third mammal speaks again, and now Judy has decided that he’s the hare from earlier. 

One of the predators says, “Shoot him!” Judy dashes past the final obstacle to help the hare, and then stops, confused by her first look at the crime scene. The hare is struggling with one of the foxes and the other one, with his back to her, is trying to line up a shot with something in his paws. It looks like a crossbow. 

“Freeze! ZPD!” Judy shouts, and the fox turns around, sees her, and gets an odd look on his face, but still tries to keep his weapon trained on the hare in the other direction. Judy can see this now because he’s turned partly away, and then the hare jumps from one fox to the other, knocking down and subduing both. The crossbow releases its dart, which sticks in a trash container not far away. 

Judy approaches the scene. Jack gets up and puts his hands on his hips. 

“Jack Savage, at your service, fair maiden,” he says, with a bow. 

Judy almost laughs until she notices the red blood on his white shirt. “You’re injured!”

“Oh,” he says and then faints. Judy catches him before he hits the ground and then activates her radio.

“Officer needs assistance. 10-31 in the alley north of Lagomorph Street. Two injured suspects and one injured… injured hare,” Judy says, too excited to do the report correctly. She’s not too excited to put cuffs on the two foxes, however. 

Police mammals in blue and medics in white arrive and start getting out of vehicles, reminding Judy of her time at the academy. The medics take care of Savage first, and then the two foxes. The senior ZPD officer, Delgato, walks over and Judy gives him a sharp salute.

“Hopps. Don’t do that. This ain’t the academy. Just tell me what happened,” the big cat says. 

She fills him in as she follows him around the crime scene, gesturing. “Two unidentified foxes, one with a crossbow. One hare who said his name was Jack Savage. I saw the hare across the street earlier and then saw these two,” she motions to the foxes, “acting odd, so I followed them here. They were apparently engaged in some sort of business deal with this hare.” Delgato listens and nods once or twice. 

One of the medics makes eye contact with Delgato and waves the hare's wallet. “Hey! He’s got a badge.” 

Delgato just grunts, and mutters, “Just what I need. More paperwork.” Then he addresses Judy. “OK. I understand you don’t have a cruiser, so use mine and fill out a report and include a diagram with the basics: one alley, two foxes, one crossbow, one hare injured. Be brief and honest, but don’t include any unnecessary details." 

“Yes sir!” Judy says, salutes, and then hops to the cruiser to fill out the report as the ambulance with the hare pulls away. When she gets done, Delgato tells her to go back to parking duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the same day she meets Nick in the movie, but she doesn't meet him this time.


	5. Two Bunnies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy runs into the hare again

“See you later, Claw,” Judy says, leaving the station at the end of her shift, a few days later. It was another boring day of writing traffic tickets. Like yesterday and the day before. Again, she got over 200, but the thrill of success was starting to wear thin. Lots of mammals were unhappy with their tickets, and few were reluctant to share that unhappiness. 

Judy had no problem putting tickets on cars parked illegally. Big cars, little cars, it was all the same. Sometimes the big cars were too tall to put the tickets on the windshield in the approved way, and some of the little cars were almost covered by the tickets, but the rules are the rules. Put money in the meter while parked or get a ticket. Somebody had to issue the tickets, and currently that was rabbit officer Judy Hopps, top of her class at the Police Academy and first lagomorph on the Force. 

Distracted by these thoughts, Judy nearly ran into someone while walking to the bus station. 

“Oh, excuse me!” she said, as the citizen, another bunny as it turned out, dodged out of her way. Dodged very nimbly, she thought later. And it’s a hare, not a bunny, she realized.

“No problem. Getting run down by cute does is hardy what I’d call an imposition, after all,” he said, sounding very charming. He looked the part also. Well dressed, and very neat. 

Judy started to walk around him after a brief moment of the usual 'meeting a stranger and talking' hesitation. She had smiled and nodded, and now he put up a paw, not touching her, but clearly asking her to stop.

“Yes?”

“I’ve been looking for you, Officer Hopps. Don’t you recognize me?”

“Oh! You’re that buck from the alley. I thought you were still in the hospital,” Judy said. She saw his ears shift when she said ‘that buck’, and hurriedly added, “I didn't expect to see you again. Ambulance showed up and took you to a hospital, and I went back to work.” She paused again, and then added, "Jack Something?"

“Jack Savage. And please, allow me to buy you dinner to thank you for showing up when you did,” the hare replied. If he was annoyed that she had forgotten his family name, he didn't show it.

“Well, I don’t know…” In the end, she agreed, and they walked to a nearby diner. They both ordered salads and carrot juices, of course, being lagomorphs, and Jack waited until Judy was mostly done before getting into anything serious. 

“Actually, I didn’t ask you to dinner only to thank you.”

“Really? A buck with an ulterior motive. I’m just amazed at all the things I’m learning here in the big city,” Judy said, putting a paw to her chest. She was still in her police uniform, but she had taken off the reflective vest. The phone call with her parents that first night was one too many to be seen wearing THAT thing again when she didn’t have to. 

Jack raised a cardboard cup of carrot juice in salute. “Yes, I’m sorry, but I’m up to no good.”

“Speaking of, what the carrot sticks was that in the alley?”

“Some of it I can’t tell-“ he saw her face change and heard the snort, so he pulled out a wallet and showed her his ID. “Jack Savage, ZBI. Really.”

Judy examined the badge, and thought it was probably authentic. She’s never actually seen one. He gave her plenty of time to examine it, further proof that it was real, and then left it on the table, but closed the flap over it so passers-by wouldn’t see it.

“OK, secret agent Savage, what can you tell me?”

“Well, I chase arms dealers, mostly. I got word somebody was doing something along those lines here in Zootopia, so I come along and shake some trees, and see what falls out. Got the word out to the underground that I’ve got guns to sell, and see who shows interest.”

“So, those foxes were gun runners?”

Jack noticed a slight emphasis on the word 'those', but chose not to say anything about it yet. “No, actually they were just small time criminals that I thought I could convince to give me more information. Had I shown up with a crate of assault rifles, I’m sure they would have wet themselves!” Jack said, smiling in memory. 

“Were they typical foxes?” Judy asked and Jack detected levels of uncertainty. Like she wanted to be wrong, but didn’t expect it. Like she expected foxes to be criminals. 

“Typical? Like you and I are typical lagomorphs? You’re a cop, and I’m a government agent. Not typical. There really is no typical unless you want to just say 'normal' in the sense that normal is what most members of a group do, but then you have to add that 'normal' does not mean 'right' or 'good.'

“Most foxes I know are hard working, productive members of society. Same with bears, wolves, deer, etc. An old partner of mine is an artic fox, if you can believe it.”

“Yeah, um, sorry. They used to hunt us, you know? And I’ve had bad experiences with them. 

"Anyway,” she added, and then stopped, clearly implying hat she really did not want to discuss it further, and he let the subject drop.

“So, they did give me some useful information, and I’d like your help running it down.”

Judy was glad she was finished eating. “Me?” she squeaked. “Why me?”

“You’re already involved, so there is no need to give you as much back ground as I’d have to give anyone else. You haven’t talked about your encounter on Muzzlebook, so it’s at least possible you can understand the concept of ‘need to know.’ That little gunfight was a pointed reminder that flying solo on this is foolish.” Jack said, and thought, ‘even though I do usually prefer things that way.’

“What do you say?”

“I say yes. If you think you can get my chief to release me.”

He smiled and toasted her with his paper cup again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of got sidetracked, so I didn't update for a few months. Sorry. I'll try to be better about that....


	6. Two bunnies and a bull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack offered Judy a job, but she already works for Bogo, so they'll have to talk to him

The next day, Judy was back at morning briefing, again, and waiting to see if she would get parking duty, again. 

So far, the briefing had been exactly like the previous ones. Everyone hooting as the chief came in, precisely at 0830. Told to settle down, they did, and sat. Judy remained standing on her chair, of course, because she couldn’t see the chief when she sat. 

ZPD was set up with larger mammals like bears, buffalo, and hippos, in mind, not smaller mammals like rabbits or otters. In fact, Judy had had some trouble even being noticed on her first day by Clawhauser. She wondered when, or if, that would change? The other day she had seen an otter in front of the reception desk, but she didn’t seem very bothered by the clear “larger mammal” bias. Maybe it would not change. 

Officer Hopps noticed the room clearing out as the larger cops got meaningful jobs while she waited to be given parking duty again. 

“Hopps? Come with me,” the chief said, instead. 

The rabbit was glad today was different, but the chief’s tone didn’t seem very inviting. She followed him to his office upstairs in silence. Then jumped up on a chair in front of his desk while he closed the door. She was glad to see Jack Savage already in the office, but was surprised when he jumped up on the chief’s desk. 

“Don’t,” the chief said, seeing Judy’s look. 

“Come on Bogo, what’s the harm?” Savage said from his place near the chief’s stapler. He seemed very interested in the device, for some reason. It looked like some sort of small industrial press next to him. 

“My officers will respect me or they will not be my officers. You’re not one of mine, so the disrespect of you ON MY DESK is less severe,” the chief said. He growled part of it, actually, but Savage didn’t seem to notice. 

Instead, he sat on the stapler and then got back up. It wasn’t quite large enough to be a comfortable chair. Bogo rolled his huge eyes when he saw the hare openly weighing the pros and cons of sitting on the massive tape dispenser instead. 

“So, Officer Hopps,” the buffalo said as Jack decided to remain standing, ”I understand you’d like to volunteer to assist Agent Savage?”

“Yes, chief. I think I could be of great assistance.”

“I’m sure. Well, I don’t care about that. Fact is he’s Federal and has specifically asked for you. I supposes there’s no point in assigning someone larger, wiser, and more experienced, because I know Jack would just say no.” 

Judy looked at Jack and grinned, but Jack was focused on Bogo, and didn’t smile back. 

“That’s right. I need a partner that can go where I go. That means a mammal my size, and you’ve only got the one. No weasels, foxes, or squirrels in the ZPD, unfortunately.”

“Agent Savage. Excuse us a moment?” Jack nodded and hopped off the desk, and then left the office, opening and then reclosing the massive door. There was a latch near the bottom, on the inside anyway. 

Judy noticed the completely different way the big buffalo talked to Savage, and reminded herself to continue paying attention to clues like that. Even when she wasn’t sure what they meant. The Chief didn’t talk to anyone else that way, as far as Judy knew, but she wasn’t sure exactly what his apparently overly formal tone and precise wording meant.

“I’ve been going over your parking ticket numbers, and I had been considering giving you one of the missing mammal cases. As it is, I won’t be doing that.” If Bogo saw Judy’s look of disappointment, he gave no sign.

“You will assist Agent Savage as required, as long as required. He’s responsible for making sure you don’t get in over your head. I’ll expect you to make daily email reports , but you don’t need to attend roll call until Savage releases you.” This time, Bogo clearly ignored Judy’s look of excitement. 

“Now, get down to Mammal Resources, or Talent Management, or whatever silly thing they're calling themselves this week. This is detached duty, and there are some paperwork matters to resolve. Dismissed.”

Officer Hopps was too distracted to notice the way Bogo’s body language changed at the word ‘dismissed.’ It was almost as if a heavy weight had been entirely lifted from his shoulders. 

“That can’t be what it was,” she said to herself, very quietly, as she rejoined Savage in the hallway outside the chief’s office. The two rabbits then walked to the nearest elevator, and Judy started to tell Jack what Bogo said, but Jack held up a finger until they got in the elevator. 

“Mammal Resources is first floor, right? He’s calling this detached duty?” 

“He told you before I arrived this morning?”

“No, Officer Hopps. We’re rabbits; well, you’re a bunny and I’m a hare, but close enough, right?” 

Judy hadn’t met many hares, so she wasn’t sure how the felt about that. She had always thought of hares as just larger rabbits, and knew that there were many rabbit-hare couples. 

“No point in not using our natural advantages like superior hearing, is there?”

Judy was shocked at the apparent breach in protocol, but wisely said nothing. She knew she had much to learn, and who better to learn from?

“You said detached duty like it’s a bad thing. Isn’t it standard on this sort of thing? Not that I would know, but it just seems reasonable,”

“Sure, sure, normal. This sort of duty is normally given to someone with more seniority than you. Someone who would understand all the things Bogo didn’t tell you. Such as the fact that I am about to be entirely responsible for whatever you do. That’s what ‘detached’ means. Detached from his responsibility.”

Judy remembered the way the chief’s body language had changed, and was suddenly a little afraid. “He expects me to fail?” Judy asked, amazed, and a little sick to her stomach.

“Not really, no. But he’s a beaurocrat, and this is a beaurocratic maneuver. He couldn’t get what he sees as a better, and larger, officer assigned, so he simply washes his hands of you. If we succeed, and you don’t get killed by whatever I’m getting you into, then he’ll be glad to have you back as a more experienced, and wiser, officer.” 

And if not, he doesn’t have to have you back, Jack didn’t say. Judy heard it anyway. 

They did the paperwork thing and Jack told them the chief said he could have an unmarked car. Judy was sure that wasn’t part of the deal, and figured Jack did it, in part, to get a little of his own back for the ‘she’s your problem now’ thing. Or maybe he’s just a buck showing off for a doe?

Judy waited until they were in the car until she asked the next question on her mind. “The chief says I need to make daily reports. Is that a problem?”

Jack wondered if she knew all the ways he might interpret that. Probably not. “No, no problem. Far as I’m concerned you still work for him, at least officially. I’m just borrowing your services, briefly.”

He paused, thinking, then asked, ”Did you want me to review your daily reports before you turn them in? Maybe look for spelling or grammar errors?” 

Judy knew what he meant. “Spelling errors, eh? Is that how you want to phrase it?”

“I was going to say ‘technical details,’ but I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. We’ll be working together, so I want to know how much I can trust you.” Judy noticed that his ears were up, but not all the way, so he was mildly interested. 

“OK, when you put that way, I think it’s reasonable. Tell you what. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” Judy said. Then she blushed and tried to hide behind her ears, realizing how the buck might interpret that. 

He grinned in the prey way, not showing teeth, and pretended not to notice the change in scent and body language. He didn’t say anything, but his ears were straight up now. 

They drove to her apartment and stopped. Judy looked a question at Jack, whose ears were back to normal. 

“Detached duty, Officer Hopps. That means plain clothes, not in uniform. Remember the part about not going to roll call? Plain clothes.

“Also, if you don’t mind, maybe you could color your exposed fur a little differently? You’ve been on TV because you're the first rabbit in ZPD and I’d like the people we meet to not recognize you if possible.”

“Is that what you do?” she asked, looking at him. He was a uniform gray color like Judy, but with slightly darker bands at the ears. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”


	7. A Todd and a Vixen Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone takes a shot at Nick and Skye

“Skye, get down!” Nick shouts.

“Wha-“ she says, but she does crouch down at least and the pellet passes over her, and lands behind them. Nick didn’t see the shooter, but he did see a furry arm come up holding a pistol. Pointed at them.

On the ground now, the two foxes can’t see the shooter, but at least the shooter can’t see them either. Passers by are staring at them, some wondering if this is some sort of ‘fox thing’? Some even look like they’re also trying to decide if they should get on the ground as well. Then they hear a voice and turn to look behind them. 

“What’s this?” They see a wolf kneel down and touch something with his bare paw. The foxes can’t see what he touched, but they can see his paw is now partially covered in purple stuff. The wolf sniffs, and has time only to say “Smells like a flower-“ before all hell breaks loose. 

The next thirty seconds or so are somewhat chaotic. The wolf has no time to say anything else before falling forward onto his knuckles and feet. His muzzle goes down, his tail goes out straight, and his ears go back. When the head comes back up, the eyes are now those of a savage, and the pupils are no longer visible. Mammals start running all over the place. 

Then another strange thing happens. A white van arrives, and two more wolves jump out. One points some sort of gun at the savage wolf and shoots, covering him with a net. The other puts a tranquilizer dart in the now bound wolf, and then both grab the net and haul their cargo toward and into the van. The whole operation takes no more than a minute and then the van is driving away. 

“What the hell?” someone says, and mammals around the foxes start comparing cell phone pictures and video. Nobody seems to have the whole story. Some think they saw a kidnapping. Some think they saw a poisoned wolf. 

Only Nick saw the whole thing. The gun, the white fox target, the purple pellet, the wolf who touched it and went savage, and then the retrieval. Someone planned this. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Nick says and Skye is quick to follow as he departs. 

“Just what the fuck was that?” Skye asks Nick. Neither fox knew, but Skye, as the apparent target, sounded, looked, and smelled, more rattled. Her tail was bushy. Ears back. 

Arriving at her apartment, Nick had to hide his own disappointment as Skye let them in. It wasn’t as large as he had hoped, but it was also no hole in the wall or space under a bridge for that matter.

“Hello?” she said. “Roommate isn’t here right now, but I needed to check just in case.” 

Nick wondered, briefly, why Skye didn’t use the roommate’s name, and then he noticed another inconsistency. No photos of a white furred fox, but plenty of photos of a male badger. “Nice place,” he said.

“Oh? I’m sure yours is bigger,” the vixen replied, suggestively. 

“It’s bigger, alright,” Nick replied. 

“Drinks?”

“Sure. What do you have?”

“I’ll check and see what’s left. The roommate is always poaching.”

Nick watches her go to the kitchen and hunt around in the fridge. Nick asks for a cola with ice and then watches Skye open two different cabinets looking for glasses. ‘She doesn’t live here,’ he realizes. 

“OK, let’s make a plan,” Nick says, as Skye sets a cola, no ice, in front of him. 

“What do you have in mind, Slick?” Skye asks and the two of them take seats in the living room. Her on the sofa and him in a nearby chair. 

“I’ve got contacts, so I’ll put out some feelers, find out what happened, and then meet you around midnight to compare notes,” Nick replies, annoyed at the name, but unwilling to admit it. Skye notices anyway, and that annoys him even more. “I’ll do that alone.”

“I ain’t no damsel in distress for you to rescue. I know mammals also, and I don’t need your comforting presence 24/7.”

“OK. Meet at Vinny’s? Unless you just want to come back here, White?”

If Skye is annoyed by the name, she doesn’t show it. “Vinny’s is fine. See you then and there,” she says, and they finish their drinks and leave.


	8. Todd and Vixen Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Skye compare notes.

I find out far more than I need long before midnight, but I don’t want to show up too early and look too eager. Instead, I get there right at 12 and look for her, hoping she’s running late. 

She isn’t. I spot her at a small table near the back. As I approach, I see that she has two place settings, and I very briefly feel good about this. Then I notice something. 

“Did you bring a date to our meeting?”” the beer on my side is only half full but it’s still cold. 

“Don’t be jealous. It’s not becoming, and no, not a date. My informant just left.“

“Your guy is here? Or he was just here?”

“Your guy isn’t?”

“I know everybody, everywhere, and no, my guys aren’t here. Not now. What did you find out?” I have to ask now, just in case things get acrimonious later. I know a few things I don’t like about her, such as how long she’s be in town and the rumors about what she’s actually doing.

“Guy who shot a us? He’s a ram, but I didn’t get a name. Wolves in the van? They’re working for his honor the mayor. I don’t know, yet, where they took that wolf we saw.”

“Your turn, Red,” she says, pointedly, and leans toward me across the table. This close, I can smell how serious she is. 

“Cliffside. And the crazy wolf we saw wasn’t the first or the fifth. He was number 15. All predators. Not sure why the mayor is doing this, but a species war is the most likely result. Which is very odd.”

“I think the mayor is just trying to cover it up. It’s what politicians do. Hide and blame somebody else.”

“How did those white van wolves get there so fast? They must be coordinating with that shooter ram of yours.”

“He’s not mine, and I have a question for you,” she says. 

“Oh? Personal question? Boxer shorts,” this gets a snort from her, but not a look of revulsion at least. 

“Funny. Ha ha. No. Skunk butt rugs?”

Crap. “I won’t bother to ask how you found out. The short version is a friend of mine did the sale, then I found out and took the fall for it thinking Big would be more likely to forgive me if I did it, and more likely to ice him if he did it. If it had worked, my buddy would owe me. Even if it didn’t work, mammals would know I’m a stand-up guy.”

“But it didn’t work and I got exiled. I think Big figured out what I did, but I’m not sure.”

“Huh. Must be tough,” she said, smirking. Her scent was very confident now, so it was time for my surprise. 

“Yeah. Sort of like you reporting to those government handlers to get back in their good graces. Like a good little spy, disgraced or not.”

She freezes for a second, and I know I’m right. If it wasn’t true, she would have actually had no idea, but she gave herself away while pausing to decide which ‘natural’ reaction was appropriate. She makes no immediate reply and then a waiter collects the half empty beer in front of me. I order a ginger ale because I really don’t like alcohol. You’d think I’d develop a taste for it by now, but I haven’t.

“So?” I prompt her.

To her credit, she doesn’t try to save the sinking ship, but then, the thing with the waiter gave her plenty of time to think about it. “How did you find out?”

“Told you, White. I know everyone,” I reply, grinning in the approved prey way with no teeth. Skye and I are both predators, so a toothy smile would not have been out of place, but I guess I’m out of practice after being around prey for so long. She’s already getting various pheromone clues, as am I, so there is no need to further complicate things so soon.

She doesn’t know how much I may or may not know, so she goes silent, hoping I’ve already tipped my hand. Even her scent shifts to a kind of neutral disinterest. I wonder how or where she learned to do that?

I wait until our drinks arrive to ask my next question. “What does the ZBI want in Zootopia? What justifies them planting you here for months and months?”

This time here reaction is more natural, and I almost miss her tell. Thing is, I’m a con-mammal too, and it takes one to know one. “Like you said earlier, there appears to be some sort of plot by unnamed parties to start a species war.”

“Right. Pull the other one. It’s got bells on. You only said that because I suggested it. It just doesn’t make any sense for the mayor, a predator, to do this for that reason.”

Now I get a flash of triumph from her scent, and I realize I may have over played. “Believe whatever you like, but I was thinking a smart guy like you with your connections, could be a huge help to me in this.”

“This help. Does it come with a salary?”

“It come with a promise not to dig too deeply into your tax records.”

“Does it now? Going to try and get me for tax evasion? Give it your best shot. Meanwhile you’re all alone, with no backup. Why is that? Your bosses don’t believe you, maybe?”

“Maybe. And yes, a salary or some other form of payment is possible.”

Now I have to shift to hide my body’s physical reaction, but she smells me anyway and smirks. 

“No, not that form of payment. Maybe you want a government job also? Be a cop or something? I can smooth the way for that.”

“Nah. I'd just take a consulting fee. The amount is dependent on how much help I provide, obviously. Also, hell no on the cop thing.”

“Speaking of, what can you do for the ZBI? Or for me if you prefer?”

“I can get into Cliffside. Have a look around. Ideally, your bosses would ignore exactly how I did it, or help me with an identity change.”

“Yes, I think that can be done,” she says and smiles, showing teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do prefer first person, so I tend to go back to it, like in this chapter.


	9. Talking about going to Cliffside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all

“Well, this is interesting,” Jack said. He was reading an email on his laptop computer. 

“What have you got?” Judy asked.

They were both very tired, and had been at work looking through information all day. They were in Judy’s tiny apartment, one on the floor, and the other on the bed, both with computers. 

Jack had stood outside while Judy changed out of her cop uniform. She had offered to either change in the bathroom down the hall or let him in if he promised to turn around, but Jack had simply leaned against the door frame and refused to enter until she was done. She knew he was interested, however. 

“I’m pretty sure the old Cliffside Asylum is being used to house at least a dozen new inmates. I’m not sure who they’ve got in there, but the foxes I’ve been speaking to said there were several “collection” vans operating out of there,” Jack said, gesturing to his computer. “Also, there is some sort of underground lab, but they’re not sure where it is.”

“Any idea what they meant by that? Underground as in secret or-“

“Underground as in, literally, underground,” Jack replied. “Could be a basement or tunnel or former parking structure. The question is why are they kidnapping mammals in those vans and putting them at Cliffside?”

“We’ve seen some videos of predators being kidnapped off the street. They always fight and then get loaded into a van,” Judy said, thinking out loud. "Do you think the vans are taking them to Cliffside?"

“I'm not sure, but I'd fight too. I wouldn’t want to be tied up and tossed in a van.”

Then he stood up. “Well, we’ve been at this all day and I for one could use a break. I’m sure you’d like your apartment back as well.”

They grinned at each other in the prey way, with hidden teeth, and he asked, “any good places to eat around here? At this time of night?”

“We could order in. I don’t mind staying on this. I feel like it’s important work, you know?”

“Hmmm,” Jack replied, thinking. Yes, he tended to sprint and coast in his work habits. Work very hard for 60-70 hours and then rest a couple of days. Usually, the end of the 70 hours was an arrest, so he could rest, himself, but he knew most mammals [including many cops] didn’t’ think that way. Most tended to pace themselves better. “So, how long might you be willing to chase this? I’m used to working alone, and the way I would do it would involve a long search / short sleep cycle until I had enough for the next step. In this case, that’ll probably be a couple visits to Cliffside.”

“I’m game as long as you are,” Judy said. “Just don’t get any funny ideas about sleeping arrangements tonight. I let you into my room, my burrow, but that does not imply you get access to anything else, understand?”

“Yes,” Jack replied, somewhat relieved. He was too mentally exhausted for a seduction right now and was half afraid she’d expect him to at least try. He’d done it so many times, with both males and females, in his professional life that just hanging around and talking to a fellow lagomorph was very refreshing. Especially since she was clearly not a target. She was going to help him if he seduced her or not, and he found that very gratifying. Also, he had noted the word ‘tonight’ and that suggested that tomorrow night could be different.

She watched him and he smiled, being careful that she could tell how pleased he genuinely was. He knew she also got some pheromone hints as well, just as he was getting hints from her. 

“Most mammals just don’t take us bunny types seriously,” he muttered too softly for anyone but another rabbit to hear. 

“You’ll find me plenty serious,” she replied in the same way. 

They ended up getting a carrot pizza, half with BBQ sauce, and then sleeping from midnight to around 5 AM. They went for a jog in the morning, got breakfast, and then went to see Cliffside. Jack would do the actual infiltration later, of course. 

 

Elsewhere, two foxes were discussing something similar. 

 

“So, we’re agreed? One of us needs to scout Cliffside and see what’s there?” Skye asked. 

“Yes. Probably me. I’m better at acting like a zootopian city employee.”

“Says you. Remember how we met?” She replied. 

“Yes, but-“

“Is it because I’m female and you’re trying to be all alpha male and protect me?” Now she looked and sounded annoyed. Ears back, head tilted, and hands on her hips. 

“No. I think you’ve been taking it too personally,” Nick replied, crossing his arms and waiting for Skye to see his reasoning. 

“Because I was a target? Fine. Whatever. When do you go in?”

“No time like the present,” Nick replied. It was 3 AM. Foxes tend to be nocturnal, and they had ended up at his place after leaving the place Skye said belonged to her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having trouble retaining much enthusiasm for this project, so I'm probably just going to post what I have now [which includes the end] and put in some transitional exposition.


	10. A fox and a rabbit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just kind of advancing the plot here.

Nick and Jack both planned to visit Cliffside at the same time, but Nick got a late start that day and Jack was early, so they ended up meeting outside the main gate. Jack was coming out as Nick was preparing to go in, so they ended up car window to car window going in opposite directions. 

“Jack?” Nick asked, rolling down his window. "Heard you were in town." 

“Follow me,” the hare replied, and so the fox turned around.

They found a convenient side road a few miles later, and then an abandoned store parking lot. Jack pulled over and Nick did the same. 

“So, you’re obviously on the same trail that I’m on. You still owe me from last time and I clearly have better, or at least more recent, information, so why don’t you tell me what you know and then I’ll tell you what I know?” Jack said, amused. 

“Uh huh. Way I remember it? You owe me, but I’ll not quibble about it now because you saved me to some time and effort. Lionheart has been kidnapping predators and hiding them in there,” Nick said, gesturing down the road where they had been. 

“Obviously. Doctor in there doesn’t know much. Got some wolf guards outside, but not many staff on the inside. Predator guests show up in nets and crazy. All tests so far have been inconclusive. ZPD has been keeping everything quiet. Best guess? Somebody powerful, possibly in the mayor's office, is trying to start a species war by causing a bunch of predators to go savage, and Lionheart is trying to stop it by hiding the evidence. The most amazing part is that no one has been hurt yet.”

“Yeah, they almost got Skye. She’s still pissed about it,” Nick replied. He knew this would get a reaction from the rabbit many mammals called ‘double oh’ behind his back. 

“How… How is she?” 

'How can you not know?' Nick thought. He said, “She’s fine. Trying to get her old job back, I think, or maybe just trying to close a lose end. Anyway, she’s at my place at the moment, at least I think she is!”

“Yeah. Tell her. Tell her I said…” The rabbit trailed off, and Nick stopped himself from making a snarky comeback because the hare sounded so serious. Jack would be a very unpleasant mammal to get on the wrong side of, even if it would be hilarious ribbing him. 

“I’ll tell her you said hello,” Nick replied.

"What are we going to do if it is Bellweather?" Nick asked, after an appropriate pause.

"Do I want to throw her fuzzy butt in jail? Yes, yes, I do, but we can't do anything because we can't prove it. Lionheart will take the fall when these mammals are released, and that means Bell will get promoted. I need to put some more thought into this," Jack said.

"Well, don't think too long. And don't think you can leave me and Skye out of whatever you decide to do!"


	11. Press Conferecence

ZPD was called in and the mammals at Cliffside were rescued. That went perfectly according to plan. The next part, Judy telling the public, didn't go as well. 

It was like a train wreck. Jack could see the two locomotives coming toward each other, or maybe they had already hit, but now all you could do was watch. Or listen, in this case. He was powerless to stop it, unless he wanted to tranq her and drag her unconscious body off the stage. He had actually considered that, briefly, and had to consciously keep his paw away from the weapon. 

“It may have something to do with their biology-“ the rabbit officer continued, as the half dozen reporters first paused, probably in shock, and then started scribbling furiously. The doe was clearly ignorant of the important facts, but also, clearly, she wanted to do her job and keep people informed. She had not yet learned how to deal with reporters. 

"And whose fault is that, Jack?" he asked himself rhetorically.

Finally, it ended when Bellweather escorted Judy off the stage. “No more questions.”

“How was I?” Judy asked Jack. 

“Could have been worse,” Jack replied. “Certainly Bellweather is going to get what she wants." 

The riots started later that day, and Judy, and the rest of the ZPD, had their paws full dealing with it. 

Jack waited a day and then caught Judy again after her shift and she had removed her riot gear. 

“Jack. What’s happening? I don’t understand why they’re doing this?”

“Do you mean the predators or the prey?”

“Both? Either one? Can’t they see it won’t help?” Judy asked. 

Jack realized she really didn’t know what was going on, and really didn’t expect her apparently innocent speciesist comments to have this kind of effect.

"I need to meet someone, and then we'll end this."


	12. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The predators aren't happy about what Judy said, but they will all need to help each other anyway. There is some harsh language here.

“Gods damn that bunny!” Skye said, venomously. 

Nick had not known the arctic fox long, but he knew her fairly well. It was a skill of his, being able to size up a mammal quickly, not that he really needed it now. “You’re still taking it personally."

“How can I not?” She replied, angry. “The next step? They’ll put those damned TAME collars on us-“

“They won’t and you know why. Zootopia does not exist in a vacuum. There are other nations, and they all watch. Zootopia is meant to be the shining beacon, so when the light gets a little dim, like now, they pay more attention. That's one reason Zootopia has no army and not much of a police force.”

“So?”

“So, any prey politician who tried to collar us will get herself assassinated. Bell knows that, or she should, anyway. This crap is all talk.”

Someone knocked on the door, and Skye looked a question at Nick. 

“Don’t get mad, but I invited some friends over. Well, one of them is a friend, anyway. The other one? Not so much.”

Nick opened the door and sighed. ”Come on in.” 

Skye saw Judy and both mammals spoke at the same time. 

“I’m sorry-“

“I’m going to kill-“

Jack stepped between the rabbit and vixen. “Don’t,” he said to Skye. 

“Get out of my-“ Skye began, and Jack knocked her down. 

“Do you remember how we met? Mammals you were dealing with? I remember,” Jack hissed into Skye's ear, from inches away. Judy heard him, but, wisely, didn’t ask for details. 

Skye calmed down. ”Fine, but don't think we aren't going to discuss this again later. What’s the plan?”


	13. Visit the night howler lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all saw what happened in the movie. What if Nick and Judy had had help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter several months ago and I rather like it, but I was having trouble writing the chapters before it.

“We’re off to see the wizard,” I said, as Finn, Skye, and I exited our vehicle. I could see the rabbits were still in their sedan not far away, at our agreed meeting place. “Get here early and then they just sit in the car?”

“Jack is always early,” Skye said, shrugging. I didn’t know that, but they had worked together before, so it’s reasonable that she would know.

We gathered near the trunk of Jack’s car. We could not see the subway entrance from our location, of course, because they would have, or could have, if they had a look out, seen us. Surprise was going to be one of your biggest advantages, and nobody wanted to waste it. Not for anything as preventable as this. 

“Jack?” Skye said. “You said you have some weapons for us?”

“Some of you, yes,” the buck replied, opening the trunk of his car. He didn’t look at Judy next to him and I smirked. Then I noticed that he didn’t look at me either!

“Hey! You think I don’t know what I’m doing? What’s the big deal? Point at the target and pull the trigger, right?” I asked the group, but mainly looked at Jack. 

Then I noticed Judy face palm and Finn, on my left, was having a hard time not laughing. Skye, on my right, said nothing, and I noticed her scent had gone back to that neutral that I associated with ‘I’m not letting you see my reaction’.

Jack hesitated only briefly before ending my dreams of martial glory. “If you have to ask that, you must also realize you aren’t qualified. Point and shoot work for some things, like massed anti-aircraft when you’re very unlikely to hit something so fast moving or blind fire at a large target when it doesn’t matter what you hit, but in this situation, I’m going to say no. There are five of us and fratricide is an issue with untrained weapon users. In other words, I won’t take the risk of you shooting me, or yourself, by mistake.”

“No gun?”

“No gun,” the rabbit replied. 

“Doesn’t make you any less of a male,” Skye said, reassuringly. I felt better about it until Finn added his two cents. 

“Pretty sure it does. Make you less that is. If you can’t handle the equipment.”

I glared at him and he ignored me. 

Jack had two extra pistols and shoulder holsters. First he gave the holsters to Skye and Finn, who put them on. Then Jack handed over two pistols. “They’re unloaded, of course,” the rabbit said, and the foxes both performed what looked like a ritual that involved sliding parts of the guns around and looking at them, and they each performed the motion slightly differently because they’d been trained differently. Both guns then went into the holsters. If they noticed my interest in what they were doing, they ignored it. 

“Right,” Jack said. He was the most experienced and the one that brought guns, so he assumed command. “Chain of command. Me, Finn, then Skye, because we’re trained to shoot, and then I guess Judy because she at least has ZPD training and then Nick because he has no training at all.”

“Rub it in….” I said and was, again, ignored.

Skye looked and smelled a little annoyed. Finn must have noticed because he looked at her directly, measuring. 

“OK?” the shorter fox asked. Ears up and focused on the vixen. 

“Fine,” she replied. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Scouts in front, that’s you, Wilde, and you, Judy. You’re unarmed so any hostiles are unlikely to shoot on sight the way they might if they saw one of us, with a weapon, first. They’re more likely to come out of hiding and try to capture you, which gives the rest of us an opportunity. Also, between you, you have exceptional visual and auditory skills. Which ever one is in front will watch us, and the second one will watch ahead of you. The idea is that you don’t know when you might be seen, and you don’t want to let them know there are more of us, so don’t be obviously looking at us. Front mammal looks like he, or she, is just looking at the second mammal. You know the hand signals?”

Jack demonstrated a few again, just to make sure, but both Judy and I knew the basics. 

“No talking, unless it’s me, or we’re being shot at, or about to get shot at, after we get down there. I’m in the middle,” Jack continued. “Skye in the rear to watch our backs. Finn will watch Nick and Judy.”

“If you two get in trouble,” Jack said, addressing Judy and I, “don’t panic. Just cooperate with the enemy and try to look like you don’t have any backup. We’ll take care of the rest. If shooting breaks out, hit the deck and try to crawl out of the line of fire. If you’re not in the line of fire, stay where you are. Your job, as scouts, is to locate the enemy. Once he starts shooting, your job is done, understand?”

“Yes sir!” Judy replied, excited. 

“Whatever,” I said. “Can’t say I like being bait, but can’t really argue with it either.”

“We get separated, meet back here. If the cars aren’t here, meet at the police station. You’ve got your cell phones and you know the numbers?”

Everyone did. 

“Let’s go,” the rabbit said, and motioned for Judy and me to lead off. I was in front and so I was expected to see everything. Judy only had to see ahead of us and listen. 

We approached, and then entered, the above ground, and abandoned, subway entrance without incident. Most of us tried to look casual, but Judy didn’t. She looked like a rabbit with a mission, but at least no one saw us. Or if they did, they didn’t react. 

First the stairs going down and then a pile of debris by the train tracks. To the left was out of town and to the right, a train yard, and a spur line to the Natural History Museum, currently closed for renovation. The tracks were electrified, and several feet below the old pedestrian platforms. Beyond the tracks was a single passenger car. 

I could tell that Jack, Skye, and Finn had done this sort of thing before. They didn’t rush and they didn’t loose sight of each other. Whenever one stopped, the other two did as well. They kept their weapons out, but pointed down. Skye was last in and made a gesture that Finn and Jack seemed to understand because they all headed down at the same time after that and we regrouped in the debris. 

“Anything?” Jack whispered toward the floor. Judy pointed at her ears and shook her head. Jack and the others looked at me. 

“Saw someone in the cab of that train car,” I told them, as quietly as I could. “Nobody in the tunnels, right now, but there are hook marks in the dust and a lingering smell of sheep and coffee. No idea how old.”

Scent clues aren’t very useful in windy environments like this, unless someone wants to actually urinate on a wall to make sure he’s noticed later. The constant movement of trains in this tunnel had dispersed the scents very thoroughly. 

Jack looked at Skye and Finn, but they shrugged. 

“OK. Let’s draw out the guy in the car. Nick and Judy? Have a look in there, but leave the door open and run for it when he sees you. We’ll grab him.”

“Now wait just a damn-“ I started, but Judy grabbed my arm. I shook her off, but followed her to the car, and watched as she climbed the outside of the car and entered through a window. 

“What are you doing, you crazy carrot muncher?” I hissed, without thinking. Later, I realized the Jack had obviously heard me, and so that was a particularly stupid thing to say when I wasn’t armed and he was. 

Judy opened the door from the inside and hissed at me. “Be quiet!”

That’s when the other door, on the other side of the train compartment, opened and a sheep came out. He was dressed in some sort of yellow coverall and carried a phone. “I hope you made sure to have plenty of-. Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?” 

We ran out the door, of course, and Jack kicked the ram in the head as if we’d practiced the maneuver a hundred times. Easy. 

“One down,” the buck said. “Bind him.”

Judy got out her cuffs, so I re-entered the train car and looked around. There were purple plants on both sides of an aisle and some sort of chemistry set up closer to the front. I took out my phone and started recording everything. I could see through the open door that this car could be driven. 

“Hey! What’s going on?” 

The outer door was still open, so I heard and saw the flashlights of what turned out to be another two rams as they approached from the tunnel. They had clearly not come down the same way we had. I couldn’t see them behind the lights, but I knew they had seen the open door of the car and may even have seen Judy, Jack, or their sheep buddy in yellow with cuffs. I went back to that end of the car and shut the door, knowing the new sheep would focus on the car and might not notice that I wasn’t alone. 

I heard running and then shooting, and then banging on the door. “Open up,” Jack said, so I did. “We got them.”

I left the car and found that Judy had been injured in the leg and now we had three sheep prisoners. “What are we going to do with these guys?”

“Do? I’ll take one and the ZPD will take the others,” Jack said and motioned to Officer Hopps, who nodded. She had some sort of rag tied around one of her legs. “Judy will call for assistance after we get out of this tunnel.”

“We’ve got rights. You can’t do this to us!” One of the sheep said, and I wondered just how dumb these guys were? Never let them see they get to you, but these guys didn’t seem to know even that. 

“Actually, we can. Or rather, he can,” Skye pointed out. She didn’t bother to gesture to Jack, but I’m sure the rams understood. 

The rest was just cleanup. Skye and I took the train car to the end of the spur line under the natural history museum, took a few items out of it, and then set it on fire. The idea was that it had crashed and exploded, or anyway, that was how Jack explained it to Skye, who explained it to me. 

Bogo, Finn, Jack, and Judy met us on the ground floor of the Museum so we could go over our stories. 

“My officers have picked up the sheep and taken their statements. They said it was all Bellweather’s idea, so we’ll be arresting her later today also,” Bogo said to Jack. Judy was there also and Bogo was pretending that Finn, Skye, and I didn’t exist. I could relate. For my part, I was just waiting for Jack to admit the operation was over so Finn, Skye, and I could leave. I would have left already, but I just knew Jack was going to pull some secret agent mammal crap and I wanted to be here to make sure I didn’t get buried under it without knowing. 

I zoned out for awhile and barely noticed Jack and Skye talking and Bogo leaving with two of the sheep.


	14. Loose ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secret agent stuff. Again, some language.

“Right. Our PR mammals have a general script for this sort of thing, but I’ve made some changes based on the specific situation. Here’s what happened,” Jack told everyone and handed out some paperwork. 

“Here comes some chickenshit” Nick said, taking one of the forms. 

Then he read it. “What the? I’m going to be a cop? I have to join the fucking police academy? NO WAY!” He didn’t notice, and possibly didn’t care about, the disgusted way Judy looked at him at that moment. 

“Fine, but I’d like to point out a few things. You weren’t much help back there, and Judy had to do several things you should have been doing or helping do. You hid in the train car-“

“Documenting the evidence!” The red fox pointed out. His ears were up and forward, and the other foxes could smell his anger. 

“Hiding from the fight-“ Jack shot back. Judy could tell he wasn’t really very upset by his scent, but he seemed to want Nick to think he was. 

“Somebody wouldn’t let me have a weapon-“

“Guys? Can you do your testosterone thing later? This is not helping,” Skye pointed out as Finn very carefully pretended not to notice what was going on. He was hoping Jack would forget about the loaner pistol. 

“If you don’t want to go along with everyone else for the good of the city, then I’m afraid I’ll have to let the IRS know about some of your irregular earnings recently,” Jack said. He sounded much more relaxed now, and his ears were back down from their full extension. 

“You wouldn’t!” 

“I would,” the agent replied. “Look, I was never here, OK? In fact, neither Skye nor I were here. It was all Judy Hopps, with some help from the annoying, and handsome, predator, Nick Wilde.”

“I’ll not work with,” Nick paused, trying to decide how best to explain when Jack was clearly not interested in listening. “That rabbit. She started the race riots. She hates predators!”

"Now who's taking it personally?" Skye asked, quietly. 

Jack pretended to ignore the byplay. “Yes, maybe. That’s why it has to be the two of you. If she can overcome her fear and distrust, and be your partner, then there is hope for prey / predator relations,” Agent Savage pointed out, piously. He sounded very serious and sincere, but then, he always did when he wanted to. 

“Ah. Fuck me,” Nick muttered. “And I’ll have to graduate the twice damned police academy.” 

“Not very likely,” the doe muttered. 

“Right. Glad that’s settled, now-“ Jack continued. 

“What about me? I thought we were going to be partners?” Judy asked Jack. 

“Yes. You only have to stay at ZPD a few years. Get some training, especially in firearms. Keep practicing your unarmed combat. An application for the Agency will be coming your way. Trust me,” Jack said, grinning. He looked very much like Nick in that moment, but Judy decided to forgive him. “Bogo will probably partner you with Nick because you’re the only mammals that size.”

Nick ignored this, or pretended to. 

“Skye? Are you sure you want out?” Jack asked. 

“Yes. I can’t do this anymore. Tired of the lies ‘for the greater good.’” Skye said, as Judy bristled. 

“I understand,” Jack said to the white fox. Then he looked at the red fox. “Take care of her.”

“Stop telling me-“ Nick started to snarl back at the buck. 

“Nick? Please just let it go,” Skye said. Nick shrugged and the foxes all left. 

"Finn?" Jack said before they were out of hearing range. 

"Ummm. Yeah?" The smallest of the three foxes replied. 

"Keep it," the buck replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to write it funny, and I hope it worked. I feel like Nick makes a fairly good straight man in this sort of situation. It might have been Jack, but the conspiracy buff telling the story [remember him?] wouldn't do it that way.


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to take care of another loose end

“I can’t believe that bastard left without even saying good bye,” Judy grumbled to the bar tender, who pretended to be sympathetic in the way of bartenders everywhere. 'And before I could get him into my bed', she thought, in the usual rabbit high libido way. 

“Is this seat taken?” A voice asked from behind her. 

“Nah, go ahead and- Jack!” Judy said, surprised. 

“What are you doing later tonight, beautiful?”


End file.
